The Legendary Dragon's Key
by SoaringHellButterfly
Summary: There's a legend spreading all over Fiore ... Tells of a terrible beast in the mountains that guards a very special 'treasure' of some sort No one knows what kind of beast it is or what the treasure could be; All they know is this treasure is possibly the most valuable in the world And one group from the guild of Fairy Tail is determined to find out if its all true! Rated T
1. Legends Tell

_Welcome! _HellFly here! It's been a while my loyal readers! And to my new readers I bow to you in greeting. This is my first Fairy Tail fic, I'm so excited. It's my current obsession, along with my latest OTP NaLu!

Recently I've just been hunched over this here computer typing away multiple different stories for this anime. And so far this is the only one I've even come close to finishing. So I'm going to go ahead and post it to motivate me to actually finish something. This story could've been part of NaLu week under the theme 'Fairy Tale'. Ah well, better late than never I guess.

This is part one of a (planned) four-chapter story. Well, I guess there's really nothing left to say except thank you for clicking in and reading. Oh! And prepare to laugh. Not so much now, but you will later! Enjoy~!

**Story Disclaimer:** I do not own Fairy Tail, all of it belongs to the wonderful and genius Mashima-san. I am merely the victim of an evil hoard of plot bunnies in my closet.

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**_The Legendary Dragon's Key_**

**Chapter 1  
**

_Legends Tell..._

On the planet of Earthland, there was a peaceful nation called Fiore. Population; Seventeen million. This kingdom was known for the majority of it's large population having knowledge of the use of magic. It held the most mages in all the world.

Magic existed in many forms, and just like with many other things there were two sides to using magic... The good and the bad.

Now everyone knows one mage alone is no problem. That's why long ago they decided to form groups called 'guilds'. They started out as a few mages who traveled together and did jobs for money. As time passed the guilds grew, taking in more people and becoming a common thing.

But because there were also guilds that supported shady characters and equally shady actions - also known as dark guilds - a magic council had to be created to make laws that all mages and guilds must abide by.

However, none of this is really what our story is about.

There is one certain guild called _Fairy Tail_ that just so happened to be the most renowned guild in all of Earthland. It was filled with rambunctious rule-breaking mages of all ages that sometimes destroyed more than they actually helped... but they were still all very talented and powerful nonetheless.

At this time, there was a small gathering of the guild's most well-known mages...

_This_ is where our story begins.

"I'm telling you, this mission is well worth our time looking into. If all holds true in the end, we'll be rich beyond our wildest dreams!" Macao ranted, raising his mug in the air. Wakaba raised his as well, muttering, "Hear, hear."

"But it's not an official mission, old man." Gray pointed out, leaning back in his chair. He had listened to this guy's raving all day but Macao had yet to really reveal what this so-called 'mission' was.

"True, it hasn't gotten the council's approval, but listen to this story and you can judge for yourself whether you want to join me. Either way, I'm going for it."

"Me too!" Twelve year old Romeo piped up from behind his dad. He had heard this story many times now, and he believed it without a doubt like his father.

"I told you, son... I need you to stay here and watch over the guild while I'm gone. With Master Makarov out at a meeting, someone's gotta man this place."

Romeo pouted, his entire posture deflating at being told he couldn't go. "Yes, dad..."

"Just tell us already! Men don't procrastinate at times like these!" Elfman growled, smashing a fist down on the table. It sent a few drinks into the air - at least the ones that weren't quickly snatched in reflex to the motion - and spilled all over the floor.

"Elfman!" Mira scolded, walking up with a dishcloth. "Don't waste things like that!"

"Sorry, nee-chan..."

"_Real_ men apologize." Jet teased, gaining a laugh from Droy next to him. "Right, Levy?"

The bluenette in the chair in front of them simply nodded, hiding her giggles behind her small hand. Elfman huffed and crossed his big arms in a pout, blush coating his cheeks. Embarrassment wasn't manly at all.

"Anyway..." Macao drawled, regaining everyone's attention. "As I was saying, this mission may not be official, but if the legends are true we can seriously make bank on this."

"You've said that already!" Gray groaned. "Just tell us what the hell you mean!"

"I'm glad you asked!" Macao grinned, leaning forward and intertwining his fingers together as he rest his elbows on the table. He cleared his throat.

"There is a legend that has spread over Fiore lately, and recently it arrived here in Magnolia as well. Granted this story isn't that old, but it's already earned the title of 'legend'. It's mystery and appeal draws many listeners in, but fewer brave enough to actually try to find out if it's true.

"This legend tells of a fierce fire-breathing dragon in the mountains south-west of Crocus; they say he not only attacks any trespassers, but he also guards a special treasure inside a small castle on the peak of one of the mountains."

"What kind of treasure?" Gray asked with narrow eyes, not buying this tale for a minute. "And why the hell does this 'treasure' need a whole castle?"

"Gray-sama~! Juvia wants to hear!" The blue-haired rain woman whined from beside Gray.

Macao glared at the ice-make mage. "I'm getting to that! Geez, youngin's and their impatience... Ahem... This is no ordinary treasure, either. It's said to be the most valuable treasure in all of Earthland!"

Erza leaned forward, genuinely intrigued now. "What's so special about it?"

"That, my dear, is the part where the story divides into several different versions. No one knows for sure what it is... but the one version that seems to be the most popular says that it's a magical golden key. Rumors I've heard tell that this very powerful key has the "power to change the world", whatever that means."

Gray scoffed, "_Rumors_... So this story _is_ bogus! I ain't buyin' it." He crossed his arms over his now-naked chest.

Cana, who had somehow ended up laying across the end of the table, mumbled out a slurred, "Gray, your clothes."

"GAH!"

"Kyaa~!" Juvia squealed with hearts in her eyes.

Macao scowled, though. "It's not bogus! It's gotta be true - men and celestial mages alike have gone in search of this key or treasure, and they all come back the same..." He trailed off dramatically, forcing the table to lean in eagerly so they could hear more.

"... Seriously burned with no memory of their journey after entering the mountains." Macao said eerily, and Levy let out a frightened "Eep!"

"Bull..." Gray said under his breath as he pulled his shirt back on.

"If what you say is true then there is some sort of beast out there that is hurting innocent people..." Erza said, bringing a hand to her chin in a thoughtful gesture. "It must be dealt with."

Levy gasped. "W-Wait, let's not jump to conclusions! Don't forget these people were waltzing through this dragon's territory, trying to take something he obviously has no intention of giving up. He has every right to defend his home."

"Gotta agree with the shrimp on this one." Gajeel said gruffly, having been silently listening until now. "As a dragon slayer, I know what it feels like to be possessive or protective of an object or person. This dragon is doing nothing wrong or illegal by my standards."

"But we can't guarantee this really _is_ a dragon!" Elfman pointed out. Everyone considered that. "What if it's just some freak playing pranks on the whole country? That's unmanly!"

Lisanna raised her hand to speak. "Well, it could be a sort of demon. But I don't know many that use fire, and Macao said this story had different versions..."

"Yes that's true, what else did these stories say the treasure or beast was?" Juvia asked curiously.

Macao took a swig of ale, then set his mug down. "Not much. The treasure could be anything; gold, rare documents, some sort of magical trinket... Some say the dragon is actually a slayer like Gajeel and little Wendy. But some of little faith say it's just some guy who knows memory magic and has pyromania.

"But I believe it's a real dragon..."

Erza raised a brow at him. "Why do you say that?"

"Because a friend of mine was up in the area. Never went in, but he swears on his life he heard the _roars_ of a living, breathing dragon."

"In that case, I'm in." Gajeel smirked, causing everyone to jerk their heads to him. "I wanna see this for myself. Maybe this dragon knows something about mine or Wendy's dragons."

"Could be. Glad to see someone willing to accompany me. Who else wants to go?" Macao looked around the table, watching as several hands went up.

"I'll stay with Romeo, partner, in case the kid has a hard time." Wakaba said, ruffling the boy's hair.

"If this turns out to be a beast that gets kicks off hurting innocent travelers, it must be destroyed. I will accept this responsibility." Erza said with authority.

Levy smiled and raised her hand. "If Gajeel's going, I wanna go too. This sounds like a great opportunity, maybe that castle has a library with rare parchments!"

"If Levy goes, we go!" Jet and Droy said simultaneously. Gajeel rolled his eyes at the pair.

"I'm going, this sounds like the sort of mission a man would go on!"

"I guess I'll go since Elf-nii is."

"Well if both my siblings are going, I will too."

"I-I want to go as well! Like Gajeel-san I want to meet this dragon!" Wendy said excitedly, with Charle floating next to her. Obviously she was going since Wendy was, no way she'd let the little slayer out of her sight.

"Cana? You going too?" Wakaba asked the drunken woman still laying across the table.

"Nah... I'll stay and watch the bar for Mira..." The brunette mumbled, staring off at some unknown moving shape in the ceiling. The group laughed at the drunk, knowing she wouldn't be doing as much _watching_ so much as _drinking_.

"Just don't let me come back to an empty storeroom, please." Mira said with a smile, but the undertone of that smile spoke of death is she wasn't adhered to. Cana nodded, sensing the hidden meaning without needing to see the look.

"Juvia will go! Gray-sama, please say you'll come with us!"

Gray nodded, "Oh I'm going all right... Just to see how fake this is and say I told you so."

"Yay! Gray-sama is coming with Juvia!" She cheered, not put off by his comment in the slightest. The man just looked at her like she was crazy, nothing new there, really.

Macao grinned at all the volunteers. Finally, he stood up, looking over the group.

"Well then, everyone... Pack your things and be ready to move out tomorrow morning, we're going to the south-western mountains!"

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And so ends chapter one. Hope you enjoyed it! And as I said there's lots more to come, and way more laughs to be had. I've already got a major chunk of this bad boy written, and like I said above, I just need the motivation to finish. Some reviews would just about do the trick~! I might even update faster with a little encouragement. Lol. No pressure. But seriously...

See you next time! SoaringHellButterfly.


	2. The Dragon's Keep

Hello again! Chapter two has arrived, and it's way longer and has more laughs than the first. I updated pretty fast, guess I was right about motivation. I know the first part was boring, but you'll absolutely LOVE this part, especially the further you get to the end... I even added plenty of little GaLe moments for you dearies who are fans. I'm hoping they'll earn me brownie-points. Hee hee.

Thanks to **YessCristopher **for being the first reviewer! This one's for you. Enjoy~!

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******_The Legendary Dragon's Key_**

**Chapter 2**

_The Dragon's Keep_

The next morning, around dawn, the group found themselves gathered outside of Fairy Tail. There was a huge magical vehicle parked in the road, almost bus sized; Macao had rented the biggest and fastest one he could find. It could certainly fit twelve people and an exceed, and still go really fast with no problem.

"Alright, load the stuff up in the back, then climb in. We gotta get moving." Macao called.

"Why so early?" Elfman complained, rubbing his eye as he yawned. "Getting little sleep doesn't help a man."

"If we want to arrive to Crocus by nightfall, we gotta get going right about now." The elder man answered simply.

"Nightfall?!" Jet screeched. That was about twelve hours from now.

"Do you know how far Crocus is? That's a long drive ahead of us, it'll take at least two days!" Droy whined.

"I ain't riding in that contraption for days! Hell no." Gajeel growled, crossing his studded arms stubbornly. Levy sighed next to him, rolling her eyes at his childishness.

Macao just grinned at his companions. "Ah, but with the driver I got we'll be there by sundown. No problem."

"Who is driving? Did you hire someone?" Wendy asked, looking around but she only found the familiar faces of her fellow guild members. Except for...

"Alright everyone! Climb aboard, we have a schedule to keep!" An authoritative voice commanded from the front seat of the vehicle. Everyone visibly paled.

"Oh definitely hell no!" Gajeel tried to make a break for it, but was grabbed by the arms and dragged on by Macao and Levy both. The rest of group quickly followed suit and crammed into the car, and the door was shut before Gajeel could attempt to bolt again.

He would've kept arguing with this, vehemently, had his motion sickness not kicked in the moment Erza floored it. Hard.

Erza had been assigned as the designated driver; not just because she had amazing control of the vehicle as it went at light-speed, but because she could _get_ the car to go at light-speed. That, and she was the only one with enough magical energy to sustain it.

Macao sat up at the front of the car with her, giving directions as needed. Inside Mira, Lisanna and Elfman sat in the front passenger seats. Behind them were Gray and Wendy, with Juvia squeezed between them and Charle in Wendy's lap. The very back of the car had two long seats that faced each other. Jet and Droy sat on one, while Levy and Gajeel took the other.

Gajeel seemed to be immune to Wendy's Troia spell after only two hours, and Jet and Droy were biting handkerchiefs in jealousy as they watched the iron dragon slayer's head be placed in the Levy's lap. Gajeel wanted so badly to tease them for it, but if he opened his mouth he'd surely puke his breakfast.

There was only two stops made on the journey. The first stop was at a small village around noon so that the travelers could stretch and eat, as well as take care of some potty breaks. The second was actually unplanned, it was an emergency pull-over because _someone_ couldn't hold in his lunch when Erza was driving through the rocky mountain pass...

Needless to say, it was after sundown by the time they finally sped through the gates of Crocus, the beautiful Flower Blooming Capital of Fiore.

"Alright! Very nice job, Erza. We've made great time." Macao said, grinning as he looked around the amazing city. Erza was slumped down in her seat still, exhausted from how much magical energy she used to fuel the vehicle. But she still managed a shaky thumbs up in response.

"Oh, finally!" Gajeel yelled as he staggered from the car, holding his stomach and trying to stop dry-heaving. Never again would he ride in a car... _Never. Again_.

Macao quickly rounded up his wandering-eyed companions. "Once Erza is feeling up to it, we'll quickly grab a bite to eat and start heading for the mountains."

"Food!" Droy cheered.

"I'm really hungry myself, it's not manly to skip meals." Elfman said, rubbing his growling stomach.

"There's a good-looking restaurant right over there, we won't have to go far into the city-" Levy pointed, but everyone was already running past her for the mouth-watering smells of the tall building. "H-Hey! Wait for me!"

After devouring their fill of food, and scaring the many staff and patrons of the restaurant, the Fairy Tail members paid their bill. They quickly left before Gajeel could get into a fight with the waiter over 'proper manners'.

"Well the guy was looming over me and annoying the shit out of me! Trying to get me to use a napkin and my fork and knife... What do I look like, some friggin' uptight duke or something?" The dragon slayer snarled as he stomped ahead of the group, Levy struggling to keep up.

"And he gave you that one look when you asked if they had any iron." Gray snickered, finding the whole situation funny. Elfman was laughing outright without restraint.

"Shut up! I was two seconds away from knockin' his block off his high and mighty self."

"Alright, alright." Macao said sternly. "That fiasco put us further behind schedule. Just load into the car and lets get going."

"Why do you want to get there tonight, Macao? Why not let us rest overnight here and wait until morning?" Lisanna asked, tilting her head curiously.

"Because the dragon will most likely be sleeping when we arrive. A sleeping target is an easier target to take by surprise." Macao said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. The group sweatdropped. That was his plan?

"Aren't dragons nocturnal?" Jet asked.

"W-Well some can be..." Wendy chimed in. "But I think it depends on the dragon itself."

"If it's a fire dragon like the rumors say, then he may be a day dragon. He'd want to take in the sun and heat." Everyone nodded, agreeing with Gajeel. "So he just may be asleep when we find him."

"See? I told you! I got it all figured out!" Macao laughed confidently.

_Do you really?_ Everyone wondered privately in thought as they arrived back to the car.

"Not again..." Gajeel growled as he was once again dragged into the moving death-trap. Then when everyone was seated - and barely buckled in - Erza slammed on the pedal, jerking the car into breakneck speeds within seconds as they drove out of the city.

"We're going to take the trail into the mountains, after about an hour we'll reach the end and we'll have to continue on foot. The castle is supposedly on the tallest peak right around here." Macao directed as he circled an area on the map with his finger. Erza nodded at his orders, pushing more energy into the car to make it go faster.

They had to slow down when they reached the trail, it was full of many twists and sharp turns that if not made correctly would send you over the edge. True to Macao's word, the trail ended at a large observation deck that overlooked the mountains, the ocean could be seen in the distance.

"So now what?" Gray asked, looking around and seeing no hiking trails.

"We grab our stuff and start climbing." Macao said simply as he opened the back of the magic vehicle so everyone could grab their stuff. They just looked at him like he was crazy.

"Climbing where, exactly?" Mira asked hesitantly, asking what everyone was wondering.

Macao pointed to the edge of the deck. "There is a ledge there that we'll use to shimmy to another cliff. From there, it's just a bit of a hike and then a quick climb to a forested mountain, that's where the castle is supposed to be."

"How do you know all this, old man?" Gray demanded. "You said everyone who comes here always ends up with memory loss. How can you possibly know where you're going when this is supposed to be a legend?"

Macao paused, and then turned to face his comrades. He lifted his hand and scratched the back of his hand awkwardly.

"Oh... Did I forget to mention this same castle was part of a mission request some time ago?" Everyone fell over at that little piece of forgotten information.

"YES!" They shouted in unison. Macao shrank under their anger.

"Yeah... Heh, funny thing. See, a while back there was a request for a mage to come and deal with a beast that was inhabiting this castle. The creature came down from the mountain every night and terrorized this village south of here; stole and ransacked their fish supplies, and left claw-marks in their houses and shops. Frightened a lot of people, though no one ever saw what it looked like.

"So I decided I was going to take the mission, but before I could get it approved the one who sent it pulled it back. Apparently the monster just left, he stopped coming to the village so they assumed he moved on to some other location. But I remember the directions to the castle."

"Isn't there a road that leads to it then? There had to have been at one point in time." Wendy piped up.

Macao nodded. "Oh there's a road, but we can't just use it to waltz right up to the castle and come knockin' on the door. The dragon'll see us from a mile away!"

"So we have to go the ridiculous route just in case this 'dragon' is not sleeping like you plan for it to be. Are you just making this up as you go along?!" Gray exclaimed, pointing accusingly at Macao. He just blinked innocently for a minute.

"Maybe..."

**SLAM!**

Macao blinked again as he watched his friends collapse to the ground in exasperation.

S/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/H\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\B

"Are we there yet?" Elfman asked, for the third time in the last twenty minutes.

"Shut up, Elfman!" Gray shouted, having had enough of that question already. "We're lost, I tell you!"

"We are not lost! You saw the castle yourself, we're heading straight got it." Macao argued.

"I saw the tip of a tower poking out from the treeline, that could be any sort of building." Gray huffed, crossing his arms stubbornly.

Lisanna looked around the forest, her eyes filled with worry as she began to believe they were lost as well. "But we saw it several hours ago... You'd think we'd have found it by now."

"Yes, it has been a while. I think we might have made a wrong turn somewhere." Mira agreed calmly.

Macao sighed heavily. "We've been going straight this whole time. We couldn't have made a wrong turn." He pointed out.

"My feet hurt!" Droy whined, dragging his sore and exhausted body at the back of the group. He had barely survived the climbing, being as heavy-set as he was, to ask him to keep hiking like this would be too much.

It was now nearing midnight, and they were all growing weary and tired from their long journey. Macao was beginning to falter in his own hope that they'd find anything, he'd been thinking maybe they should camp for the night, and just continue on in the morning. Then if they still didn't find anything, just head back home in defeat...

**_Rooooaaaaaarrrrrr_**

Everyone stilled. No one breathed as they listened to the sound carry over the mountain and echo in the distance. The scary part was though... it sounded no close...

"W-What was that?" Jet asked shakily.

"There's no mistaking that sound. It's a dragon, all right." Gajeel answered, his red eyes narrowed and scanning the surrounding area.

Gray raised a brow, scoffing, "Dude any creature can roar and sound like something else entirely. Could be a wyvern, they're dragon-like, right?"

"Either way!" Droy cried, "Wyverns are not the kind of creature you want to run into!" He exclaimed shivering in fear along with Jet.

"Especially at night, when it's so dark and easy to blend in with the environment." Mira added, not really helping the situation as the cowards wailed in horror.

"Shut up, you two! The beast might hear us!" Charle hissed, hanging onto Wendy's shoulder.

Gray ignored everyone's obvious tension, strolling forward to the front without fear. "Pfft... Until I see it I won't believe it's a dragon."

"Well ye of little faith... Look straight ahead." Gajeel said, jabbing his thumb in the direction _opposite_ where the noise had come from.

Everyone followed his suggestion, slowly turning to look straight into the darkness before them. As everyone quieted they all realized that there was a rumbling sound coming from the blackness... A growling that seemed to be growing louder as something approached.

Then before anyone could react to the sounds, something emerged from the darkness.

With blurring speed a large _dragon_ flew into the clearing, an earth-shaking roar escaping him as he landed yards away, glaring at the intruding party on his land.

The dragon was actually smaller than expected. Compared to Metalicana or Grandeeney, his was a bit of a pipsqueak. He was probably a young dragon, and hadn't reached his full growth yet. But that didn't mean he wasn't powerful and deadly, he was still ten times bigger than the humans before him.

Dark crimson scales covered the majority of his body; with the exception of under his tail, chin, belly and the inner portions of his legs which were a deep salmon pink. There was a noticeable pale scar running from the crimson into the pink of the right side of his neck. From the back of his neck, all along his spine to the end of his tail, black ridges rose from his back.

Large bat-like wings spread wide in a dominant manner, the undersides also salmon in color. His head was triangular in shape, mostly because of the sharp horns atop his head and above his nose, and on the sides of his face were three crimson spikes that were connected by salmon webbing. As he slowly stomped towards them, his long black claws dug into the earth, leaving deep craters in their wake.

Smoke escaped his flaring nostrils, while pitch-black eyes expressed a single warning - _Turn back now or die._

"Holy shit there really is a dragon!" Gray screamed, his eyes almost bugging out of his head as he reared backwards in shock.

"Told you." Gajeel said calmly, not afraid of the majestic creature that clearly intended to do harm to them if they didn't leave.

"I knew it!" Macao grinned, pumping his fist in the air in victory of being right.

"Now's not the time for admiring the scenery and wildlife!" Levy cried, cowering behind Gajeel who was just staring intently at the real living dragon.

"Yes, we must face this creature. If he is here, then there really is a treasure to be found." Erza stepped forward, her armor magically re-quipping into Flame Empress. She gripped her sword tightly, fully prepared for anything the dragon attempted.

The dragon growled at the mention of treasure, and stared down at Erza with narrowed black eyes, seeing her transformation as a challenge. He crouched low, snarling viciously, his tail raising into the air poised to smack down anyone who made a move.

"Okay, Gajeel... You, Wendy and Erza stay and distract the dragon. You slayers can take it, I'm sure." Macao whispered, and the iron slayer nodded. Wendy appeared nervous and fidgeted, she'd never fought an actual dragon before, and she didn't really want to hurt it.

"Mira, you and Elfman stay behind as well, in case they need help. The rest of us, when I give the signal, we go around it and keep looking for the castle. It must be nearby if the dragon showed up." Mira and Elfman shook their heads in affirmation to their orders.

The dragon had enough of waiting for someone to make a move. He appeared to inhale a deep breath as he reared his head back and then let loose a loud roar as fire burst from his throat towards the humans.

Erza jumped forward, bringing her sword forth and making a vertical slash as she met the flames head on. The sword parted the fire, sending it into two directions away from the group behind her. The dragon's eyes widened slightly at the move, but then they narrowed again as he poured more strength into his roar.

Her blade began to glow red as fire collected around it, and when the flames stopped rushing towards her Erza quickly attacked with a Flame Slash, aiming for the dragon's head. The beast simply ducked, bringing his tail up to swat her away like a fly. She blocked him, but couldn't avoid the clawed hand that followed.

Gajeel and Wendy then took that moment to enter the fray, both aiming their own Dragon Roars at the volatile creature.

With the best thoroughly distracted by three opponents, Macao looked to the leftover guild members. "Now! Let's go!"

Not needing to be told twice, everyone but Elfman and Mira took off in a run, curving around the battle taking place in the small clearing. They disappeared into the trees, leaving them behind in a trail of dust.

S/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/H\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\B

Macao, Gray, Juvia, Lisanna, Jet, Droy, and Levy were running as fast as they could to put distance between themselves and the dragon behind them. They all had complete confidence in their comrades, they just hoped they could overcome an actual dragon; one of the most dangerous and deadly beasts on Earthland...

With two dragon _slayers_, their odds were pretty good, right?

"I sure hope Mira-nee and Elf-nii will be okay. Erza, Gajeel and Wendy too." Lisanna said with obvious worry as they ran.

Levy smiled, looking over to the take-over mage. "Don't worry, Gajeel won't be taken down that easily, Erza neither. They'll all be just fine."

"That dragon sure was tiny though, I thought they were supposed to be huge. Like, bigger-than-the-royal-castle huge." Gray commented.

"Juvia noticed that as well."

"Perhaps he's just a kid, dragons don't reach full maturity for quite a few years, I heard. We'll ask Gajeel later." Macao said as they ducked through trees and bushes.

"If he's young, they stand a better chance than they would against a fully grown one." Levy agreed.

"Look! Up ahead!" Juvia pointed, and they noticed a parting in the trees. A stone wall was visible in the opening.

"The castle! We're almost there, keep running." Macao encouraged, excitement tingling through his veins. The legend that he had been thinking about for weeks was becoming a reality right before his very eyes...

They emerged from the trees, and stopped to look up in awe at the small but cozy-looking castle that sat peacefully overlooking the mountains. The stone walls were covered in ivy that crawled all the way up to the machicolations that bordered the square building. It had four corner towers, and one huge circular tower in the center with a pinnacle.

The grounds around it were lush with green grass, and many finely trimmed hedges lining the walls. There was an array of colorful flowers sprouting from the ground, moving gently in the blowing winds.

"This place must be enchanted, look how well kept these plants are. Unless the dragon does gardening in his spare time..." Lisanna mumbled as her brows furrowed in confusion. It didn't feel like any magic was being conjured, though. Strange...

"Lets head inside. Be ready for anything, guys, there could be traps inside." Macao said, heading for the large wooden double doors in the center of the front wall. Not bothering to knock, he pulled open a door and held it open for his companions to enter ahead of him.

So far so good, no traps were going off. No giant rock was rolling down the stairs. No scythe swinging down to cut them in half.

The group wandered into the castle foyer, each person looking around with either curiosity or scrutiny. There was a grand central staircase that led to the second floor, and two hallways on opposite sides of the room that led to different wings on the ground floor.

Macao cleared his throat, gaining everyone's attention.

"Okay... We'll split into three groups. Jet, Droy, you go with Levy and search the east wing. Juvia and Lisanna, take the west. Myself and Gray will search upstairs. If you find something, just call the rest of us. This place isn't so big, we should hear you if you shout loud enough. And if you don't find anything in your area, head on upstairs and help the two of us search up there."

They nodded at their instructions, splitting with their assigned partners.

"Aww! Juvia wanted to go with Gray-sama!" Juvia cried as she was pulled down the west hallway by Lisanna. Team Shadowgear started down the east hall, with Jet and Droy hanging close to Levy, shaking in their boots.

Macao and Gray headed up the central stairs. Both men were looking around, trying to detect anything suspicious or dangerous but... The place looked completely harmless. No cobwebs were hanging from the ceiling, no medieval weapons poised to spring from hidden mechanisms, not even a rat was seen scurrying across the floor.

The place looked... Normal, for the most part.

"This is weirding me out." Gray said lowly as they reached the top of the steps. "This place doesn't look like the kind that holds a valuable treasure. It looks like someone lives here."

"Impossible, no one has lived here for centuries except monsters. And who can possibly live here with a fire dragon on their front porch?" Macao asked with a raised brow.

"Perhaps someone who commands him?" Gray said in a 'duh' tone.

Macao paused, considering that. "I hadn't thought of that... We'll have to be on high alert now."

Gray nodded, and they continued their search, deciding to start in the west wing of the upper floor. Just like the rest of the castle they'd seen so far, it was in immaculate condition, no dust or dirt on the walls or floors. Macao wanted to believe that it was just some enchantment, but Gray suspected there was something wrong here...

"Wait." Macao suddenly said, putting a hand on Gray's naked (again) shoulder.

At the end of the hall they just turned into, there was a wooden door. It looked just the same as the many others, only difference was the mist coming from beneath it and swirling into the air.

"Steam? This... This must be the room with the treasure!" Macao said excitedly, speeding up his pace down the hall toward the door.

"Wait." Gray paused and looked over at him, confused. "How do you figure?"

Macao stopped as well and met his gaze, lifting his hand and rubbing his stubble-covered chin. "Well the steam must be from some fire-related booby-trap or obstacle that's protecting the item, don't you read treasure-hunting stories?"

"I don't read, really... Don't have time." Macao just stared blankly at the young man, before shaking his head and just pulling Gray along. He was getting so excited, Jewel symbols filling his eyes as he thought about the valuable treasure that lay beyond. He was so close he could taste it!

As they neared the door, they each felt the temperature rise as the steam drifted up and over their skin.

"You're right, there's heat coming from beyond here..." Gray murmured in awe.

"Well come on! Let's go get our reason for being here before the dragon realizes we slipped away!"

Then without waiting another second, Macao kicked in the door and they walked in, expecting to be fully ready for anything.

_Except..._

There were no booby traps...

"_Eeeeek!_"

But there _was_ boobies.

"What the-? GYAH!" The older man had no time to form a full sentence before a wooden bucket collided with his face, sending him flying flat onto his back. "Oof!"

"Macao!"

"Kyaa! Pervert! What do you think you're doing?! How did you get in here?!" A woman shouted, rushing to the side of her stone sunken bathtub and yanking a towel up to cover her exposed femininity.

_So this was a bathroom... Clearly not a treasure room.  
_

Gray was taken aback by this new discovery, and the one in the tub. This woman was a beauty like no other; long flowing blonde hair, flushed peach-colored skin, round chocolate brown eyes that were wide in fright and embarrassment...

And full pink lips that were parted to inhale a deep breath and then...

"NATSUUU!" She wailed at the top of her lungs.

"H-Hey! Lady, take it easy-! ACK!" Gray's attempts at diffusing the panic failed miserably as a bottle of lotion smacked into his nose.

"Hyaaaah! Get out! Get out you perverts! NATSU!" The woman continued to scream, throwing whatever she could get her hand on while the other desperately clutched the towel to her nude body.

"There's a woman living here? Who could've possibly known that?" Macao groaned as he rubbed his head.

"As if the well-kept castle and garden weren't clue enough..." Gray bit out, moaning in agony.

"Natsu! Please! Help meeee!" She kept crying, backing away as far as she could from the two men in her private sanctuary. Her bathroom was supposed to be a place of peace and serenity, and now it had been tainted by the presence of strangers that wanted _who knows what_ from her! And one of them was shirtless! They might be planning to violate her!

She began hysterically screaming the name 'Natsu' over and over, and soon the eldest of the three had a realization dawn on him.

"She must be calling that dragon!" Macao yelped, crawling to his friend. "We gotta get out of here!"

The raven-haired ice mage just groaned, rolling his head towards Macao. His nose was bleeding - but whether it was from a broken nose or from unexpectedly seeing a beautiful naked woman, neither was quite sure - heavily as it slid down the side of his face. "How's a dragon gonna get in here?"

"Let's not wait to find out! We gotta meet with the others and split. Forget the treasure-!" "LUCY!"

A foreign male voice roared the name as another person with spiky pink hair burst into the room, his fists flaming and his black eyes frantically searching the place. The blonde lady (now revealed to be 'Lucy') didn't hesitate to run towards him and hide behind his back, gripping her towel tightly around her to save the little dignity she had left.

"Natsu, help! These perverts broke in while I was bathing!" Lucy cried, peaking around the man called 'Natsu', tears sprouting at the corners of her big brown eyes.

Macao gulped, paling. "Oh shit..."

Gray grew pale as well. He held up a hand in protest. "Th-This isn't what it looks like!"

"You. Are. _So._ Dead!" The pink-haired man snarled, the fire on his fists intensifying as it started crawling up his arms. He took a threatening step towards the two. They backed away slightly, but readied themselves for a fight.

"Eep! Loke! Put me down!" Lucy suddenly shrieked, and all eyes turned towards her to see an orange-maned guy in an elegant suit holding her bridal-style. Azure, thin-framed sunglasses covered hazel eyes that gazed down adoringly at the woman in his arms, his lips wide in a smirk.

"Princess, now is no time to be arguing. I must get you to a safe place... unless you want to keep standing in a pretty, _small_ towel. Which I personally wouldn't mind, my lady." He whispered seductively as he leaned in, Lucy scowled while blushing in humiliation and swiftly turned her head away from his advances.

"Put a sock in it, Loke!" Natsu growled as he turned his back on the intruders to face the suited man. "One more lecherous move on her and I'll fry you to a crisp, too!"

"Oh, I didn't know you could use such a big word like 'lecherous', Natsu." Loke said teasingly with a grin. He looked down at Lucy again, sighing wistfully. "My dear princess, why do you devote and waste your affections on such ignorance? I could treat you oh so much better..."

Already riled up from uninvited guests in his territory, not to mention men trying to take advantage of Lucy's vulnerability, Natsu jolted in offense. He then yelled, "That's it! Get your hands off my mate right now! I'm killing you once and for all!"

_Mate?! _Macao and Gray thought in unison as their eyes widened at the strange twist in the situation. The good news is they appeared to be completely forgotten now...

"Nah, I think I'll hold onto her a little longer. She's so very soft..." The man did a daring move by nuzzling his cheek against Lucy's. Natsu stiffened.

Big mistake...

"Lucy... KICK!" With amazing flexibility the blonde woman thrust the leg against Loke's chest up and collided it with his head, her knee making direct contact with his face. Loke's head jerked at the smack, his eyes swirling in dizziness as his grip on his master loosened and slipped.

"Kyaa!" She screamed as she began descending to the hard, stone floor.

"Gotcha!" Natsu huffed as he swiftly caught her, scooping her up into his own arms while Loke collapsed to the ground. His unconscious form vanished in a cloud of smoke, disappearing to who-knows-where.

"Nice kick, Luce." Natsu grinned, holding his mate snuggly as he locked eyes with her. Lucy smiled back at him, blushing from the compliment now, feeling a little proud herself.

As the two seemed to be sharing some sort of private moment, the two forgotten men had been slowly side-stepping against the wall on their way to the exit. When they were close enough, they decided to risk it all now that the pyromaniac was distracted.

"Run for it!" Gray shouted, and the two Fairy Tail members bolted for the door. They managed to successfully escape the room before the spiky-haired man realized what was happening.

"O-Oi! Hey, get back here! I'm not through with you bastards yet!"

* * *

And so ends chapter two. Hope you enjoyed it! Now that you've seen Natsu and Lucy does this mean I get a reward? Like a review? Maybe, possibly, could be? Two planned chapter left, everyone!

See you next time! SoaringHellButterfly.


	3. The Story Of Us

Hello, hello! Back with this third update. Another pretty long one, but personally I like long chapters. More fun to be had, I get really sad when the chapter ends too soon. Especially when it's getting really good or its a story that doesn't update much. Thank you to all who reviewed last chapter, this one's dedicated to you guys! You makes me so happy with your positive feedback! QwQ Enjoy~!

* * *

**_The Legendary Dragon's Key_**

**Chapter 3**

_The Story of Us_

There was a heavy tension looming over the inhabitants of the den. So thick it was, that Erza could cut it with any one of her many swords at her disposal.

On one side of the room, all the members of Fairy Tail sat on cushions, some of them calmly sipping tea from their little cups. Others were nervously looking around at the decorative room, avoiding eye contacts with their 'hosts'.

On the other side, sat a very rigid dragon man who held a blonde woman that was curled up on his lap. He simply stared down the people opposite him and his mate, still on edge from the night's earlier events. He wasn't going to trust them that easily,_ especially_ that freaky raven-haired one that kept taking off his clothes.

After Gray and Macao had run screaming for their lives from the bathroom, they soon ran into the rest of their friends along the way - literally. Turning a corner, they had smacked right into the other groups.

Juvia didn't mind so much as she ended up getting tangled in the mix with her precious Gray-sama on top of her.

Apparently, when the two men had startled Lucy into hysteria, her screams had carried all throughout the castle. It had alerted the rest of the treasure search party and sent them running towards the upstairs to see what was going on. Of course it took them a while... despite the castle not being very big, they still managed to get lost somehow.

And outside of the castle with the battling party, Natsu's very keen dragon hearing had picked up the first shout of his name. Hearing the distress call, he wasted not a single moment, unfurling his large wings and sending his opponents flying off his back. Without paying any heed to Erza's attempts to stop him, he barreled through the treeline and took off into the skies towards the castle.

The enemies he left behind followed after him, and very soon Gajeel and Wendy heard the screams of a woman as well. Erza had frowned deeply at this discovery, immediately assuming the woman was the master commanding the beast and was summoning him to aid her. She had demanded they push faster, worried for her remaining nakama.

"From what I'm hearing I don't think they're the ones in trouble..." Gajeel had said in response. After a few seconds he added, "Though now I could be mistaken."

They had made it to the castle, followed the loud commotion to the upstairs hallway... and came face to face with the scene of a strange man trying to barbeque Macao and Gray. He had them each pinned single-handedly on the ground, with another strange woman in the background yelling for him to stop before he killed them.

Everyone else was petrified on the ground or against the wall as they watched the pyromaniac nearly singe off their comrades' skins.

Eventually, the peacemakers of the group (Lucy, Mira, Lisanna and Levy) were able to dilute the tempers and convince everyone to discuss the misunderstandings that were obviously clouding proper judgement. So, when the chaos settled down, and Lucy was dressed in actual clothes, they all settled in the den with some nice hot tea.

Which brings us up to speed with the present, and we can now move forward...

The silence in the room continued for a while longer, the _tick-tock_ of the clock making everyone fidget slightly in their seats... Until someone just couldn't take it any longer.

"W-We can explain everything..." Lisanna started, but she was cut off by the fire dragon.

"Just what the _hell_ were you doing prowling around here? And why did I catch two of you invading _my_ Lucy's bathroom?" At the last question, Natsu aimed his burning glare at Macao and Gray, who cleared their throats and looked anywhere but at him and Lucy.

Levy answered for the group. "You see... We came here because there's been this story going around about a dragon or monster here that was guarding a castle that housed a treasure of some kind."

"Not that again!" Natsu groaned, smacking a hand to his forehead. Lucy sighed as well. "And here I thought the memory-loss was helping!"

"Yes, we heard about the other unfortunate people who tried to come here." Charle said stoically.

"And I sent every one of them tumbling back down the mountain! Can't you people take a hint, we don't wanna be bothered!" Natsu raved, his temperature beginning to rise along with his annoyance.

"Natsu, please calm down." Lucy murmured, patting his arm. Natsu blew off a little steam, and his body relaxed as it left him, but he still stared at them sternly.

"Now look here, there ain't no treasure. It's just us trying to live in peace. I don't know where you humans got the idea that there was a valuable piece of gold or whatever here, but there isn't. I guard this castle to protect _my_ treasure, and that's Lucy."

"We can see all that now, and we are truly, deeply sorry for all the trouble." Mira said softly, bowing her head forward in apology. She forced her siblings on either side of her to follow suit.

"Eep!"

"Hey! This position is unmanly!"

"So how did people start getting the idea that there was treasure in this castle?" Jet asked.

"That's Natsu's own fault." Lucy equipped. "A band of thieves wanted to ransack the place for old antiques and when Natsu chased them off he was shouting _'And don't you come near my treasure again!'_... and that's when the idea formed that there was some kind of object worth millions of Jewel up here."

"So it was a miscommunication of words all along..." Macao said miserably, his dreams of being rich suddenly crushed.

Lucy smiled in pity at him. "I am sorry you came all this way to be disappointed. But you should be thankful you didn't end up like the other travelers who came in search of this non-existent treasure."

"Yeah, some of them wouldn't accept that explanation - called us liars and we were trying to hide it and keep it for ourselves. Well, when they got to be a little too frisky I had to get rid of them somehow; scorching them and knocking them around seemed to do the trick."

"When they awoke, they had no memory of the ordeal because of how hard Natsu hit them. I'd have him carry them to the outside of a village and let the people find them. Our hope was for them to scare themselves with their own stories and keep them away."

"But it just seemed to entice more visitors." Natsu said bitterly. "The appeal of danger and money just made them flock to us."

"Then when we return we shall lay these rumors to rest." Erza decided, Natsu and Lucy looked to her in confusion. "We'll tell everyone there's nothing and no one up here. If they don't think there's anything to find, they won't bother you. You can live in comfortable peace again."

Lucy smiled wide, gratitude lighting her face up. "Oh that would be wonderful, thank you!"

"So now that we have that cleared up..." Gajeel said, bringing attention to him. The iron dragon slayer was staring intently at the dragon-in-human-form. "You wanna explain to me why you're a dragon, but you're also a human?"

At the question, everyone's eyes seem to drift back to Natsu. They had been wondering the same thing, they just hadn't been able to broach the subject. He was a big enigma wrapped up in a mysterious body that could somehow shift from human to dragon, nothing of the sort had ever been heard of before.

Erza began to scrutinize Natsu with slightly narrowed eyes, clutching her chin again in thought. "It might be some form of take-over magic like the Strauss siblings. You could be a special dragon slayer... But you can't be a real dragon either, can you?"

Natsu jolted, extremely offended by that question.

"I am _one-hundred percent_ _real_ dragon! My father is the Great Igneel, the Flame Dragon King, dammit!" He roared, his chest puffing with pride at the mention of his father. "Who are _you_ to call me a _fake_ dragon?"

"That's who you look like!" Wendy suddenly yelled, making the group turn to her. "When we saw your dragon form you seemed so familiar... Now I know why, Igneel once visited Grandeeney before they disappeared all those years ago. You really are his son!"

"Duh..." Natsu mumbled. He was then elbowed in the stomach by Lucy. "Ow!"

"So... You're a real dragon, after all?" Gray huffed, hating that he was proven wrong and that there really was a dragon.

"No, I'm a magical salamander with the ability to breathe fire and turn human... Yes, I'm a dragon! What more proof do you people need?!"

"Pfft!" Gajeel snickered, he was beginning to like this Natsu guy. "Salamander..."

Gray, however, glared heatedly at the dragon, mumbling, "What a jerk..."

"I can hear you, you know."

"Good. You were meant to."

"You wanna keep going, stripper? You're already on my bad side, don't make it to my death list."

"I ain't afraid of you flame-brain!"

"Okay that's it!"

"Natsu, don't you move." Lucy said calmly, but there was an undertone of danger in there if she was disobeyed. And it caused the dragon to settle back down quickly, but not before growling and snorting out more clouds of steam from his nose (a frequent habit, lately, it seemed) and sneering at Gray over her head.

"Heh... Whipped." Gray muttered teasingly, and the whole room tensed in reaction, their eyes flying to the fire dragon who tensed as well.

"Lucy, I'm sorry... But now he's gonna to die!" He gently removed her from his lap, placed her on the cushion beside his and then tackled the ice-make mage to the floor.

"Bring it, pyro! I can take anything you throw at me!" Gray challenged tauntingly as the two rolled across the room, putting each other in headlocks and throwing multiple punches and kicks at one another.

"I think they like each other." Mira said with a cheerful smile. The whole room - minus the brawling buffoons - sweatdropped in response.

"So, Lu-chan... Oh! May I call you that, Lucy?" Levy squeaked, hoping she wasn't being too formal. But the blonde lady simply smiled wide, and nodded. "Of course you can, Levy-chan."

Levy smiled back, relaxing at the pretty smile. "How did you end up here? I mean, I've never heard of a dragon and a woman living together before."

"That's actually a very long and complicated story... But if you're really interested, I suppose I don't mind telling. I haven't had mixed company in a long time - we don't get many _kind_ visitors, you know..."

Everyone could understand why, now.

"You see the truth is, I'm actually the queen of a foreign country." At this their eyes widened and Lucy laughed at their comical faces.

"It's an island country that you probably haven't heard of, it's not even marked on Earthland's map. My people are very spiritual and worship the many idols and deities of the stars. As a celestial spirit mage myself, I learned the ways of summoning from my mother, who was named queen because of her ability to 'summon the stars themselves'.

"But after she passed away when I was ten from an illness, I was suddenly made to become an adult before I was ready to. My people wanted a celestial mage as their ruler, and my father was not one. They looked to me for many things, and the pressure was too much for me to handle, I constantly feared the disappointment on all their faces when I eventually would fail them...

"As I grew older the hardships of being made queen too early began to get worse. My father wanted to marry me off to a prince of another country to form a unity and make our people stronger." She paused when she heard Natsu's subtle growl, and smiled at his possessiveness despite herself.

"The problem with that was no other country would be understanding of our ways, we were a pacifistic country that desired peace among the stars and nothing more. But my father buckled under the pressure as well, he was already fragile and had become very cold after my mother's passing. He seemed to get a sense of authority despite me being the monarch to the people. He set up an arranged marriage with a prince from Bosco..."

Everyone gasped. Levy cried out, "But that's a slave-trading country!"

"Yes, and the prince was as rancid and horrible as you can possibly imagine. He did nothing but undress me with his eyes throughout our entire first meeting, and frequently tried to touch me in some way." She stopped herself again as she was lifted back into Natsu's lap, his arms curving tightly around her waist.

She leaned back against him, a quiet sigh of contentment escaping them both. Across the room Gray lay in a bruised mess on the floor while Juvia fretted over him in hushed tones, trying to be respectful for Lucy.

Feeling better now that she was in her lover's embrace, Lucy went on. "I tried many times to reject the entire ordeal, but my people were feeling threatened and feared the consequences of dishonoring the barbaric country and their even more barbaric prince. I had no choice but to accept the marriage."

"Don't tell me you actually married that man!" Lisanna yelped, slamming her hands on the floor and leaning forward. "He didn't force himself on you did he?"

Lucy smiled softly, and Natsu took the opportunity to answer. "Of course she didn't! And no way in HELL did he lay a finger on her!"

"Yes, a very funny event happened the night before I was to marry that prince... I had gotten the silly idea of trying to run away, thinking I could take a boat to the mainland and find some help to save my people from the Boscans that had invaded my home for the wedding. But after thinking it over, I began to realize that might do more harm than good. My absence would cause an outrage, and I could never let the people I was raised to lead think I'd abandoned them.

"However, on my way back I got lost. Despite being the ruler of the land, I had never been out on my own before and didn't know where I was going. I stumbled around for what must've been hours before I literally tripped over a log. Well... I thought it was a log."

Natsu snorted, chuckling. "It was my tail, and she woke me up from a very peaceful sleep with her screams as she fell. Then when she realized what I was she started screaming even more, almost busted my eardrums..."

Lucy reached back to smack his arm. "You would be frightened too if you saw a giant dragon glaring at you with smoke coming out of his jaws!"

"No I wouldn't. I would've thought it was cool!"

"You would!"

"Ahem..." Mira coughed politely, anxious to hear more of the story. The entire group was, except Gajeel who just watched with mild interest and yawned in boredom.

"Oh, sorry..." Lucy laughed awkwardly, sobering herself back into seriousness. "Anyway, yes, I was scared and thought he was going to eat me. I was backed into a tree and began to think 'This is it, I'm going to pay for leaving my home and trying to run away. I'm being punished' as I started to cry."

Natsu piped in, "I didn't mean to scare her, I was just annoyed that my sleep had been disturbed. And when I smelled her tears, it made me feel... bad for some reason. I mean, I may not have wanted to scare her, but that didn't mean I was supposed to feel sorry for her. I was a fierce dragon, she was a human in my territory, I should've been roaring mad. Well within my rights to eat her!"

The group gaped at him, their jaws dropped as he said that without batting an eye. He said it so casually as if she weren't right there in his lap! And she was not reacting to it!

Instead she was smiling! "He's right, he very well could've eaten me that night. But instead, he leaned down and used his big snout to nudge me up. At first I tried to back away, but he looked at me with such expressive eyes... Despite their dark color, they spoke more words to me than anyone with a mouth ever could.

"I spent the entire night with him, just resting comfortably by his side. He lit a fire for me when it got too cold, and even used his wing to blanket me as I slept. I'd become so comfortable, that for no reason at all I talked to him about my life, describing how I was made queen and going to be married the following morning, and how I wished I could leave it all behind...

"The next morning he was kind enough to give me a lift back to my home. At first I vehemently refused-"

"Refused? Try telling them how you shrieked _'Eeek! No, I'm afraid of heights, and you'll drop me!'_ over and over. As if I'd actually let you fall and not catch you before you splattered all over the ground." Natsu laughed, earning a glare from his mate. Gajeel couldn't help the snort of laughter, either.

_He's got no restraint to what comes out of his mouth! _The women all thought, while the guys were snickering to themselves.

"Anyway! He took me back to the castle, and that was the last I expected to ever see of him. I ended up saying a very tearful goodbye... fully resigning myself to my fate, but deep down... I was happy that I got to spend my last night of freedom with someone who actually seemed to care.

"Natsu flew off after that before the sun could finish rising, I noticed he had a strange look in those aforementioned expressive eyes of his, but I couldn't dwell on it; My servants found me and swept me away to prepare me for my wedding. They dressed me in a fancy gown, decorated me in many fine jewels, but it didn't matter how beautiful I looked... It didn't hide the sadness that welled in my heart.

"Finally, it was time for the ceremony. I walked down the aisle, my father gave me away, and the preacher began to marry me to the horrid prince of Bosco. I remember him whispering all the disgusting things he planned to do to me when the ceremony was over, and it only made my tears fall faster. He just called them 'happy tears' to everyone present.

"Before the preacher could get us to recite our vows... The church wall was suddenly broken down by a giant crimson dragon."

Everyone grinned as the story progressed, and Mira sighed dreamily as she pictured the valiant dragon coming to save his love from the evil prince. Usually tales like this were the other way around.

"Immediately the church was in an uproar, citizens screaming and running for safety, despite Natsu not doing anything. His eyes found me instantly, and I was so shocked to see him I couldn't move. Why was he here? What was happening? My mind was so overwhelmed by the situation I sort of went blank for a while.

"Natsu started to make a big ruckus while I was stunned, breathing fire and chasing Boscans all around the place, my fiancé included. He specifically targeted him last, after running the rest of the Boscans back to their boats as they fled for their lives to their home country. My fiancé tried to fight him, but it was feeble as Natsu was not only way bigger and stronger, but also more terrifying and he scared the man into submission really quick."

"Damn right..." Natsu muttered, grinning with pride as he remembered the look on the guy's face as Natsu made a move like he was going to swallow him whole. He actually wet himself!

"Instead of eating him like he made it look like he was going to, Natsu picked him up by the collar and dropped him into the boat with the rest of his citizens, basically telling him to leave and never return. They seemed to get the message, as their boats took of at breakneck speeds, heading back to Bosco and leaving my kingdom in peace.

"But my people were still frightened of Natsu, they were so terrified they feared him more than the Boscans. They demanded I fight the creature with my spirits and destroy him, despite him helping free us from any slavery the Boscans would put us through had they stayed. I couldn't bring myself to fight him, I refused... But I couldn't just ignore my peoples' pleas and cries; I was their leader, I had a responsibility and obligation to them."

Everyone was on the edge of their seats now, eager to hear more. This story was getting better and better with each word that left Lucy's lips. They gasped, they laughed, they reacted accordingly to every part they heard. And right now, their eyes were wide and mouths in a firm line as they waited for them to go on.

Natsu continued in Lucy's place. "So we faked a fight. We took it far enough away that the citizens could hear it, but not see it. It was Lucy's idea, she told me she wanted to make them think she defeated me so I could continue to be free and safe. But as we acted it out, making noise and causing a little destruction, I began to think about her and what she would do after this was over.

"She'd just go back to being miserable, doing a job she had no real passion for, serving people who cared nothing for her happiness. And then to top it off, she'd probably just be sold off to some other prince from a 'nicer country'. And that thought just pissed me off! It really made my blood boil!

"So when we reached the climax of the fight, instead of letting her fake a victory, I set fire to the entire area. She was startled at my actions and demanded to know just _"what the hell I was doing"_, I just motioned for her to climb on my back."

"He confused me to no end, but eventually I realized he was telling me that he would take me away from it all."

Levy gasped, smiling at where this was going. Lisanna, Wendy and Mira did the same.

"His idea was that by destroying the surrounding area and making us both disappear, my people would assume he ended up eating me, then simply took off to new places. At first I hesitated... This was the only home I knew, I was the queen of this island, what would they do without me?

"But I was never one to look a gift horse in the mouth... All my life I had devoted myself to the happiness of my people, always dreaming of adventures I'd never get the chance to have. Of freedom I'd never receive. Natsu gave it all to me in a matter of twenty-four hours."

"So she hopped on my back, and I flew off the island after releasing the most victorious roar I'd ever made. We never looked back. The people would surely think their beloved queen was dead, and just have to move on." Natsu squeezed Lucy's waist, thinking to himself that he had made the greatest decision of his life that day...

"We flew for days, resting at night so he could recover while we slept. Already we were having adventures that I had only dreamed of back home, and I was happy as could be. But I couldn't deny I missed someone to talk to... I mean, I could talk to Natsu for hours-"

"And she _did_ talk for hours... Ow!" She pinched his hand on her hip.

"-but it wasn't the same as having someone who would respond to you. Talk to you in return, you know? I would never regret my decision, but I did feel somewhat lonely. I didn't want to use my precious keys to call them out just for conversation, that would've hurt Natsu's feelings. So instead, one night I made a wish on a shooting star...

"And then all of a sudden we were transported to the Celestial Spirit World; a place where the spirits of my keys dwell when not summoned. We found ourselves in front of the Celestial King, ruler of all the spirits. He had heard my wish, and was so moved by our story - and had always admired me for my kind treatment of my spirits - that he chose to grant my wish for me."

"And what was your wish?" Levy asked, her eyes alight with wonder.

"For Natsu to be able to turn human at will."

Gajeel hummed, and finally spoke. "So that's how you can take a human form..."

"Yes, he's a very special dragon." Lucy giggled, loving stroking the arms around her as the dragon beneath her huffed. He felt that should've been obvious in the first place, of course he was the coolest dragon there was!

"It shocked me that _that's_ what she had wished for. And to add to that she had seriously considered me and my feelings for the whole thing. I was grateful I didn't have to choose to be dragon _or _human for her - I could be both, whenever I wanted." Natsu's voice was very soft as he gently caressed Lucy's left hand.

When he heard her wish, he thought that it meant he'd have to give up being a dragon forever; He'd have to say goodbye to ever going back to his fiery home with Igneel and all the other dragons he'd met and befriended on his travels alone. He'd never be the next Flame Dragon King and would spend the rest of his life as a weak and pathetic human.

But when she had told him that he could keep his dragon, and would just gain the ability to turn into a human of his own free will... His whole world had flipped upside down. He thought it had already done that the night he met Lucy but apparently he was wrong. She had understood exactly what he was feeling without him being able to say so, knew that he could never easily choose between her or his family and heritage, never give up one and be completely happy with the other.

So she made it to where he didn't ever have to give up one, and could keep the other close to his forever-burning heart. He would be grateful to her for the rest of his days for not taking anything from him, instead giving him more than he had ever asked for.

"When the Spirit King granted my wish, he transported us back to our camp, and that's when I saw his human form for the first time. Instead of red hair - like I expected because of the crimson scales of his dragon body - he had salmon-colored spikes. It was odd but I didn't think it looked funny."

"I did." Natsu grumbled. "Pink hair, I felt so girly..."

Lucy giggled at his pout and reached back to run her hand through his unruly spikes. "Like I said, it's not funny-looking. I think it suits you."

"That's because pink is your favorite color," He argued with a scowl, but still leaned into her touch. "You wouldn't care because it's not your hair."

"Maybe." She teased, and before he could argue with her more, she turned back to the group to continue their story. "So that's what I noticed first. The Spirit King made him, physically, the same age as me by giving him the body of a teenager - Natsu is still young by dragon's standards to begin with. But the thing I loved most was that despite the drastic changes... his eyes remained the same expressive black pearls they had always been.

"And I fell in love with him at first sight."

Mira squealed loudly then, startling everyone. Her hopeless-romantic side was already burning with a passion as the story had kept going, but finally... she just couldn't contain her excitement anymore.

"Excuse her," Lisanna said with an awkward laugh. "Please go on."

"Yes! Please do!" Mira agreed, trying to quiet herself. If she didn't, she wouldn't get to hear how they became the couple they are today, and that was the best part!

"Okay..." Lucy raised a brow, but decided to ignore the oddness. "Seeing his human form had awakened new feelings inside me, and the more I looked at him the harder my heart pounded."

"I called her out on it, I was worried she was going to die if her heart kept going at the speed it was." Natsu grinned cheekily, liking this part of the story too. Whether Lucy knew it or not, he, too, had fallen for her in that moment when he became a human like her.

"Of course that ended up flustering me even more than I already was, and introduced me to the sarcastic, loud-mouth that he actually is. He had no limit to what came out of his mouth, always saying the brashest things that would irritate or embarrass me. And he kept calling me a weirdo for no reason!"

"It wasn't for no reason. You were acting like a weirdo, so I called 'em as I saw 'em!"

"Whatever! The point is we didn't get to really explore our feelings for each other because we were constantly bickering with each other. He couldn't stop teasing me and saying stupid things-"

"-And she wouldn't stop being weird and overreacting to everything." Natsu finished.

Lucy glared. "Eventually our journey brought us here to Fiore. We had been hiding out from humans until this point, but I knew we couldn't survive like that forever. Eventually we'd either be found or die in the middle of nowhere from starvation. So I asked him to let me gather supplies in a quiet town.

"While I was in town, I heard talk of an abandoned castle somewhere in these mountains. They talked of a beast that lived inside it, and appeared to be afraid of this monster. It gave me an idea; If Natsu just chased off this so-called monster, then we could take the castle for ourselves and live in seclusion in peace. The people were already afraid to go near it, they'd never bother us."

"When she came to me with this idea, I didn't really go for it. Staying in one place has never appealed to me, I loved and cherished my freedom. And to me, this seemed like her way of trying to tie me down and tame me. So I rejected it and this led to a big fight between us."

"He said I wanted to just use him like some pet and I was trying to tell him that this was a great opportunity for us to have some foundation. A place we could call our own and go back to whenever we wanted. I never wanted to take anything away from him, but his pigheadedness blocked his sense.

"So he took off for a few days, leaving me alone in the town. I guess this was a good thing, gave us time to cool off and consider the other's side. I missed him terribly, but I was still upset with him. He accused me of things that deeply hurt my feelings and I wasn't willing to forgive him quite yet.

"I had no money, so I camped by myself outside of town for those nights. Over the course of my time alone I began to convince myself that Natsu wasn't coming back, he hadn't returned yet after several days already. It broke my heart...

"So I eventually decided to quit waiting for him to just show up and go to that castle on my own. If he didn't want to live with me, then I'd just follow through and live alone. I still needed a place to stay, and this seemed like a good time to start learning to fend for myself. As a queen I wasn't used to doing things myself, but I caught on pretty quick, I'd always learned fast when the situation needed it.

"I took the abandoned trail up to this castle, and it was in perfect condition on the outside. It was very well preserved, and with a little tender loving care it would be a very nice place to call home. With my keys in hand, I decided to brave the inside alone... Only to walk in and find Natsu already in the foyer."

Natsu looked away bashfully when the women across from him started looking at him with cheeky grins. "W-Well... after thinking it over, you know, settling down with her did sound kinda nice... I decided to cave in and give her what she wanted. I mean, she did allow me to keep my dragon after all, the least I could do was give her a proper home like a mate should. So I came back and was planning to fix it up to surprise her.

"Just minutes after I got here, she arrived and the rest is history. Here we are today."

"Oh! So you took care of that monster that was here. It must be the one that stole the fish and terrorized that village." Macao concluded, slamming his fist on his palm. "What kind of monster was it, anyway?"

Lucy chuckled. "Oh, that... The mysterious 'monster' simply turned out to be-"

"Me!" A high-pitched voice suddenly screeched behind the Fairy Tail members.

"**_Hyaaah!_**" Everyone jumped and were suddenly pressed against the opposite wall, huddled together as they shivered in fright.

"AHAHAHAHA! Nice one, Happy! You got 'em good!" Natsu roared with laughter, throwing his head back and howling with uncontrollable hysterics.

"Aye, sir!" They all looked up to see a blue ball of fur with a pair of white wings floating in the center of the room, a big grin on his face. "I've been waiting for you to get to that part of the story this whole time so that I could make my big entrance!"

"Happy, you shouldn't scare people like that. You and Natsu will do anything for a good laugh." Lucy sighed, shaking her head at her boys.

"Aye!"

"What is that?!" Droy shrieked, pointing to the blue 'monster'.

"I'm a cat!" The creature pouted, before flying into the arms of the blonde woman. "Lucy~! These people are being mean!"

"Sorry if our little friend here scared you, he picked up Natsu's affinity for pranks. This here is Happy, an exceed like your friend Charle."

At the mention of the white female kitty, Happy's eyes wandered to her for the first time. Immediately his little body stood fully erect in Lucy's arms, hearts forming in his eyes and his tail sprouting straight up in attention.

"Aaah~!" He cooed excitedly as his little heart went 'thumpety-thump' in his chest. His tail then began to swish back and forth in an aroused manner. "Pretty kitty~!"

_Uh oh... He's been bitten by the love bug._ Lucy thought with a soft chuckle as she watched the exchange.

The other exceed just stared at him with indifference, before turning her head away and letting out a "Humph!"

Happy's face quickly fell, little tears welling in his eyes as rejection stamped it's ugly red mark over his cracking heart.

"Lucy..." Happy whimpered, turning to face the blonde holding him. "I'll give you every fish I own if you help me win that vision's heart!" He whispered urgently, pressing his paws together in a begging manner.

Lucy giggled at his antics, then whispered in return, "Keep the fish, Happy. In fact, why don't you give them to _her_ instead as a gift?" She winked, and that seemed to reinstate Happy's confidence.

Grinning back at her, he chirped out, "Aye!"

He then leaped out of her arms and flew off to another room. She guessed it was to his secret fish stash somewhere.

"So there's no monster, no treasure... and you're not some 'key that has the power to open a door that will change the world'?" Gray asked, ticking off the points on the fingers of his hand.

"Goodness, no! I don't know how you ever got that idea. Such a thing doesn't exist to my knowledge. My mother passed down the twelve golden keys to me, and they are the strongest keys known to man or mage. The key you speak of is a myth." Natsu kept silent as she told them this, and she was grateful. Never would she tell them the truth - that the door really exists...

No human would ever know so long as she was the zodiac keys' protector. It would remain a true legend.

"So this trip was a waste." Gray moped. "I told you it was bogus."

"The rumors may be fake but this trip was anything but a waste!" Levy scolded Gray. "We met some really wonderful people and got to hear one of the greatest love stories I've ever heard! Lu-chan, have you considered writing it as a novel?"

Lucy's eyes widened slightly, her lips forming an 'o' shape as the idea washed over her. "Me? Write a novel?"

"Hey, why not, Luce? You like to write those short stories in your spare time and they're really good. I say go for it!" Natsu encouraged, grinning down at his mate as he squeezed her to him.

"You write short stories? I would love to read them if you'd let me!" Levy said eagerly, scooting closer to Lucy and Natsu.

"The shrimp here is a major bookworm. She'll read anything, and I mean _anything_. Good or bad." Gajeel informed the couple, smirking at Levy's excited antics.

"Well, if you'd like to I could let you read my stories, I'd love an outsider's opinion. Natsu and Happy aren't the best of critiques for things other than food... Why don't we go to my library?"

"You have a library?!" Levy's eyes practically formed into stars as she thought of all the texts and books she could get her little hands on. Good things she brought her Gale-Force reading glasses!

"Lucy's a bit of a bookworm too." Natsu chimed in. "Spends more time in that dusty old library than she does with me sometimes." He pouted. Lucy rolled her eyes at him before returning her attention to the drooling Levy.

"Yes, I have a fairly large library filled with a lot of old books that belonged to the castle's previous owner. Along with some of my own books that I've picked up on our travels. While you browse, we can discuss this idea of me writing a novel-"

Levy couldn't drag Lucy out of the room fast enough.

This was the start of a very beautiful friendship...

* * *

And so ends chapter three. Hope you enjoyed it! Now it's just the epilogue and this story is _finito_! Hooray, a completed multi-chapter story, the first in over a year! That's a personal best, haha. Anyway, please leave a review if you loved it!

See you next time! SoaringHellButterfly.


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